Study: African Elephants Address Each Other With Name-Like Calls

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Colorado State University, Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices used machine learning to confirm that calls of African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) contained a name-like component identifying the intended recipient. When the authors played back recorded calls, the elephants responded affirmatively to calls that were addressed to them by calling back or approaching the speaker.



Two juvenile elephants greet each other in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Image credit: George Wittemyer.


“Dolphins and parrots call one another by ‘name’ by imitating the signature call of the addressee,” said Dr. Michael Pardo, a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University and Save the Elephants. “By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver’s calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work.”

“The ability to learn to produce new sounds is uncommon among animals but necessary for identifying individuals by name.”

“Arbitrary communication — where a sound represents an idea but does not imitate it — greatly expands communication capability and is considered a next-level cognitive skill.”

“If all we could do was make noises that sounded like what we were talking about, it would vastly limit our ability to communicate,” added Colorado State University’s Professor George Wittemyer, chairman of the scientific board of Save the Elephants. “The use of arbitrary vocal labels indicates that elephants may be capable of abstract thought.”

More:
https://www.sci.news/biology/elephant-names-13007.html